Jon Pownall was a Chicago-based photographer, commercial director and filmmaker during the 1960s. When he decided to enter the field of glamor photography in the early 60s, it was natural for him to sell his photos to two men's magazines that were based in the area: Playboy (Chicago, IL) and Rogue (Evanston, IL).

Jon Pownall was born on Aug. 12, 1934 in Maryland, but the family later moved back to his mother's hometown of Sanford, Maine. At the age of 12 or 13, Jon received his first camera, a Brownie, as a gift from his mother. After graduating from high school, Jon moved to New York to attend Rochester Institute of Technology with the goal of becoming a photographer. At RIT, Jon met his wife Jean, and after they received their associate degrees, they moved to Chicago so Jon could finish college. They opened their studio shortly after Jon graduated in 1956/57. In their photography business, Jon and Jean were a team, with Jean doing the make-up on their models, buying props for ads and commercials and making meals for their clients.

In the early 60s, the Pownall's bought and remodeled a 3 story brick building at 918 W. Armitage in Chicago. The first floor was offices, a darkroom, a large studio area and a loading dock at the rear of the building. The 2nd floor had an editing room and a kitchen/living room/dining room to entertain clients. The basement had a projection room/theater and the family lived on the 3rd floor. It was while they were located in this building that Jon and Jean photographed the majority of their glamor work for Playboy and Rogue magazines.

Jon Pownall's first and only Playmate layout for Playboy magazine featured centerfold Avis Kimble (Miss Nov. 1962). During 1963, Mr. Pownall shot two covers for Rogue magazine (May and October) as well as three layouts inside the magazine. The first layout was a five page pictorial called "The History of Glamour" in the May issue, the second was the centerspread of Marion Anders (The Rogue Girl) in the August issue and the third was the four page pictorial "Rogue Throws A Yachting Party" in the December issue.

For 1964, when Rogue went to six issues per year, Jon Pownall photographed two of the Rogue Girl pictorials: Nina Forrest (January) and Toni-Lee Shelley (October). Toni-Lee Shelley gained notoriety for being arrested in Chicago for indecent exposure after she wore a topless bathing suit at a public beach.

Camera equipment used by Pownall included the medium format Hasselblad, a Rolleiflex, and an 8x10 camera which he used for his Playboy and Rogue centerfolds.

Also during the 1960s, Jon Pownall branched out into directing TV commercials (for McDonalds, Bell and Howell, Oldsmobile, etc.) and by the early 70s he was even making his own feature length films. His first film, "Goodbye, Fat Larry", produced in 1970/'71, went unreleased.

In 1971, Jon moved his family - his wife Jean and three children - to Sanford, Maine and began pre-production on his second film, "The Salem Six". By August 1973, he had cast his film and was ready to start filming when, on August 31, he was shot to death by an unknown assailant at the film studio's office in Portland. Before long, it was discovered that someone had recently taken out $400,000 worth of life insurance on Jon. According to Lynda Pownall-Carlson (Jon's daughter), the motive for her father's murder was the insurance money and the appropriate people were put on trial, but were acquitted.

Jon Pownall was 39 years old at the time of his death.